Amazon is backing three new renewable energy projects in the US and Spain to help it meet its goal of sourcing 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2024.
A lotta wattage
Amazon’s newest renewable energy project in Europe will be the company’s first large-scale project in Spain, a 149MW solar farm located southeast of Seville. The other two projects in the US will consist of a pair of solar farms, one located in Lee County, Illinois and another in Northern Virginia, both farms will total 180MW. Once complete, the three new Amazon renewable energy solar projects will provide an estimated 329MW.
Kara Hurst, Amazon’s director of sustainability, said: “Earlier this year, we announced The Climate Pledge, setting a goal to meet the Paris Agreement ten years early and be net-zero carbon by 2040.
“We’re committed to investing in renewable energy as a critical step toward addressing our carbon footprint globally.”
Commending Amazon for the investment in his state, Illinois Governor Jay Pritzker said: “As we work to put our state on a path to 100 percent clean and renewable energy, Illinois is proud to have Amazon invest in a major solar project in our state.
“Addressing climate change will take all of us working together, and leadership from state governments and the business community will demonstrate how we can sustainably power a modern economy and create good-paying jobs.”
Virginia Senator Mark R. Warner said: “I applaud Amazon for their investment in renewable energy projects in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This solar energy project will generate 80MW of renewable energy, which will help lead to a cleaner and healthier environment.”
To date, Amazon has launched more than 70 renewable energy projects that will provide over 1,900MW. A new website has been set up by Amazon to share information on how the company is faring in its task to be sustainable - as self-reported by the company.
In other news
Amazon is also funding a 23.2MW wind farm in Cork, Ireland, and a 45MW solar plant in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, USA.
The two sites, with an expected annual generation of 68,000MWh and 100,000MWh respectively, will be used to serve AWS data centers when the farms come online next year.
The farms are the company's 65th and 66th renewable energy projects, which altogether will generate 1,342MW of power by 2020.
